The October Full Moon
by kamikaze2007
Summary: How many times have you woken up to find your best friend with a gash in his neck?  How many times have you caused that gash?  Take a look in Remus' mind as he and the marauders struggle to survive yet another hectic full moon.


October. The worst month of the year. I don't know what it is about October, but it always makes the transformation worse. It might be the atmosphere of the month. It may be the changing of the seasons. Whatever causes it, Moony is at his worst during the October full moon. But now I'm being redundant. Let's move on, shall we? I distinctly remember one year in which I nearly killed all of my closest friends. Of course, I always almost kill my friends, but this was the closest I've ever gotten. It started, as usual, during sunset. We, the marauders, had already snuck out of the common room and were on our way to the Shrieking Shack.

"Guys, why don't we tell Dumbledore or someone and leave Remus to them?" Peter whined.

"I told you a million times, Wormtail," I snapped, "Who in their right mind would allow a werewolf to attend Hogwarts?" Remus' temper flares as well as Moony's around that time of year.

"Besides, we can handle him. We always do," Sirius said with a slight yawn.

"You have no idea how much I appreciate this, you guys," I said looking around at my friends. Peter Pettigrew was nervous, sweaty, and of course, stuffing his face. Sirius Black looked worn out and his marvelous hair was ruffled. Either he had a spat with his girlfriend and raked his scalp in frustration (he tends to do that), or they had been snogging. It's anyone's guess, really. James Potter, possibly the bravest of us all, pushed ahead of us. He always acts eager for my transformation, but like all of us, he just wanted to get it over with.

"Isn't that what best mates are for?" James asked looking at us over his shoulder.

"But," I protested, "Every month you guys risk your lives for me."

"Second verse, same as the first." James and Sirius said in unison. We all shared a quick laugh.

"Besides, as long as you don't mess up this petty face, I'm fine with it." James said smoothing back his hair. "The Halloween dance is coming up and I need to look good for my date." In response, Peter snorted. Apparently, James stole Peter's date to the Halloween dance or something. I don't know, I gave up trying to keep track of James' love life a long time ago.

"I don't even want to _think_ about what I could do to your 'pretty face,'" I said with a shiver. We reached the usual place we go when it's a full moon out. A room in the Shrieking Shack in which we rearranged the furniture to give me room when I turn into Moony and start thrashing about. We also have a slab of centaur meat hanging from the ceiling to distract Moony. It's old, stinky, and rotting, but when I'm in that form, I don't care. I sat in a corner, shivering as the first signs of transformation surfaced. Every month, it starts with a blinding pain in the back of my eyes. Literally, I can't even see anything sometimes because the pain makes my vision go all white. There are other signs and stages to the transformation, but I can never remember them. I only know they involve a lot of pain. "I'm…so sorry, you guys," I managed to say in between wails of pain.

James' voice reached me as if from far away, "This is no time to go soft on us, mate. Moony's coming."

And that's the last thing I remember until morning.

I woke up with a pool of blood around me. That's nothing new, but something was off. The smell was not the usual Centaur blood I know from long post-transformation mornings. This blood smelled different. Like a human's. "Wh-what…" I managed to croak in a hoarse voice. My voice is always like that after becoming Moony.

I was answered with another hoarse voice, "Well, Remus is back." I looked up and nearly screamed. James was sitting in a separate pool of blood. He had a terrible gash on his left shoulder that must have gone down to the bone. His face was abysmally pale. "So much for looking good for the dance, right mate?" James weakly laughed. I turned to run and smacked into a wall. I think I hit it too hard, because my nose started bleeding.

"Dear Merlin! James, what have I done?" I half shouted-half asked on the verge of tears.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, settle down, mate!" Sirius said putting a finger to his lips. He turned to Peter. "Wormtail, settle him down. All three of us should take him to the hospital wing."

Peter walked over to me and patted my back while I tried not to hyperventilate. "Here, have some chocolate," he said offering me a bar of chocolate. I took it and ate slowly, relishing the taste and calming down. Chocolate truly makes everything better. I quickly calmed and we helped lift James to a standing position.

"Okay," Sirius started, "When we get to the hospital, we ran into some wolves in the Forbidden Forest and had some trouble with them, okay?"

Peter and I nodded while James smiled weakly. "You got it, chief." Then his head slumped as he lost consciousness.

On the way to the hospital wing, Sirius and Peter told me what had happened. Moony apparently got tired of the Centaur meat and ripped it from the ceiling before tossing it out the window. Then he, er, I went for Sirius. James jumped in the way and hit me with a well timed charm to stop my movement, but not before I tore into his neck. Luckily this was shortly before sunrise so he didn't lose too much blood before I came to. We reached the hospital wing and watched as James was helped into bed. I was so shaken up by knowing I did that, I couldn't move from the bed side. After a long while of trying to move me, Peter and Sirius decided to stay with me.

"Well, looks like the Marauders are missing another day of school…" Sirius muttered.

We reappeared at dinner that day. James had decided to leave the hospital wing without the bandages on his arm so he could "show off the scars." This is the kind of person I associate with. Lily Evans saw us and nearly choked on her food.

"Oh my god, James!" She shouted, "What the hell happened to you?"

I tried to develop a sudden and overwhelming interest in my mashed potatoes as James and Sirius spun a fake yarn of the adventure they had with Peter in the Forbidden Forest the night before.

"James! The Forbidden Forest is _forbidden_ for a reason! You could have gotten seriously hurt," Lily scolded.

"I did get seriously hurt," James said, "Did you not see this scar?" He pulled aside the collar of his robes to show the scar and I looked away. The next few days, James got much admiration for his scar. Despite the immense head and ego inflation it gave him, he managed not to let it slip what really happened. He wasn't even angry at me, even though it was my fault. He, Sirius, and Peter stuck by me even after trying to kill them.

October. It's the worst month of the year. But luckily for me, I have the best friends a wizard can ask for to help me through every month, regardless of how I behave or what I look like on those long full moon nights. What more could a fifth year werewolf ask for?

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><p><em>Okay, this is a fanfiction based on an Harry Potter roleplay I have with a couple of friends on Tumblr. I can't remember exactly what inspired me to write this, but here it is. There are also little references to the events of our hilarious roleplay littered in here. Please review, and I hope you enjoyed! <em>


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